Suffering is wanting things different when it’s outside of your control – Emmanuel
Some things change, some things seem to stay the same. Years ago when I moved to San Pedro it was slow. We had arrived in slow season just after Hurricane Keith had roared through Belize. I remember standing on a lonely beach with no one in sight, wondering if I could live on such a deserted Island. Since then I have watched slow seasons come and go. And it’s always the same, but different. September is slow that’s the same, but people always complain different. It seems we need constant reasons to justify slow season.
This year it’s not hurricanes, many say it’s the economy. Some blame it on H1N1 virus, another on the drug wars in Mexico, still another on what is happening in Guatemala. Whatever we think it’s always better to accept what going on as temporal and this too shall pass.
By learning to develop an Acceptance of your current circumstances, regardless of what they might be, you begin to live in the truth of life and open the ability to find deeper meaning in the immediate moment. Whereas thinking negative creates Resistance and lessens your ability to rise above your situation.
To assist in explaining how these attitudes affect us, and are created, let’s look at the meanings of each word individually.
Acceptance – 1): agreeing either expressly or by conduct to the act or offer of another so that a contract is concluded and the parties become legally bound, 2): the quality or state of being accepted or acceptable, 3): the act of accepting: the fact of being accepted: APPROVAL, 4a): the act of accepting a time draft or bill of exchange for payment when due according to the specified terms, b): an accepted draft or bill of exchange.
Resistance – 1a): an act or instance of resisting: OPPOSITION, b): a means of resisting, 2): the ability to resist; especially: the inherent capacity of a living being to resist untoward circumstances (as disease, malnutrition, or toxic agents), 3): an opposing or retarding force, 4a): the opposition offered by a body or substance to the passage through it of a steady electric current, b): a source of resistance, 5): often capitalized : an underground organization of a conquered or nearly conquered country engaging in sabotage and secret operations against occupation forces and collaborators.
As we can see from the definitions above accepting a thing is being in agreement to it. Resistance to a thing is being in opposition, or in a sense, a form of fighting. What does that have to do with slow season?
By saying it’s slow you are actually attracting, creating, and bringing into the physical, that which you claim you do not want. By being in a state of acceptance, it is impossible for the perceived negative event, condition, or circumstance to grow!
This time of year people move around. Some decide the island life is not for them. Some just find it’s time to be someplace else. School starts in different parts of the world and all change brings some measure of uncertainty for many of us.
I could join the crowd and talk about how slow it is. But this year I decide to make a list of all the positive aspects of having slow seasons. Below is my list. Maybe you can add a few of your own and send around positive vibrations to keep us all focused on what really matters.
- Reassess your plans for next year
- Spend time enjoying the island
- Take a trip to visit off island relatives
- Do repairs around the house, the “Honey Do” list
- Take the kids to the beach
- Catch up on your reading
- Write a letter forgiving that relative you think wronged you
- Count your blessings that doesn’t need money
- Create a new goal for your dreams
- Get real about what has true value in your life
- Spend time taking care of your health
- Take a good look at the relationship you are in and decide if it fits your needs.
